


in our skin

by iwillstayalive



Series: birthday gifts [5]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 08:07:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillstayalive/pseuds/iwillstayalive
Summary: for the prompt: soulmate au where whenever you write something on your skin with pen/marker/whatever it shows up on your soulmate’s skin as well.





	in our skin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prayformalec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prayformalec/gifts).



> o, uh, I really, really don’t know what this is. I started with an idea and ended with another(?) basically malec feels. This is for becca, like 54841534 years later, but I didn’t want let your birthday pass without something. I hope you like it! love you.
> 
> Also, major thanks to [Bri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmenlire/pseuds/Carmenlire/works) for checking this out<3

Magnus was six when they first started showing. 

 

Random drawings, all in black marker ink, on both of his forearms.

 

He came home crying and scared, not knowing what was happening to him. Was he sick?

 

Until his mom explained to him, that, those markings were from his soulmate. Everyone had a soulmate and if this person drew or wrote something on their skin, it would show up on their soulmate’s skin as well.

 

“What’s a soulmate,” Magnus remembers asking.

 

“A soulmate,” he remembers his mom saying, “Is a person that heaven has designed just for you. They’re going to accept you, support you, and love you no matter what. They’ll make you a better person.”

 

“Does this mean that you’re my soulmate, mama?” 

 

His mom laughed. “No, baby, I’m not. This soulmate is going to give you a different kind of love, that you’re too little to understand right now. But when the time comes, you will know,” she told him.

 

Magnus believed her.

 

* * *

 

At age sixteen, Magnus was still searching for his soulmate. They drew on his skin almost every day, intricate lines with colors and his secret signature, so that he could identify them.

 

He never saw anyone with matching markings. Perhaps they didn’t even live in the same city or country.

 

But that wasn’t the worst part.

 

The worst part was that one day, the drawings on his skin stopped appearing. He didn’t know what happened or why his soulmate stopped drawing, but it felt wrong.

 

He felt empty.

 

But he was still hopeful that he would find his soulmate one day.

 

* * *

By age twenty, he’d lost all hope.

 

It’s been gone for awhile now. Life grew busy, between college and finding a job. The thought about possibly finding his soulmate one day wasn’t important anymore. He dated, he got his heart broken-- a few too many times.

 

What would make his soulmate different from anyone else?

 

Nothing.

 

In any case, the drawings never came back.

 

* * *

 

At age twenty two, Magnus is in the library studying for a major test that was coming up. Everyone here seemed to be doing the same by the looks of it, If the hardcore highlighting a student next to him was doing said so.

 

“Hey,” Magnus whispers, “You’re going to break the paper at that pace. What—“

 

His words cut off as the student jerks up in surprise, the marker flying off his hands and falling onto the floor. He has beautiful hazel eyes, wild hair, and from the look of his face, was suffering from severe sleep deprivation.

 

He was  _ beautiful. _

 

“Sorry,” Magnus mumbles, “I didn’t mean to scare you. . .”

 

The guy nods, answering with, “Alec.”

 

“Oh, okay.  _ Alec _ . I’m sorry-- you just were, um, highlighting very intensely.”

 

Alec laughs at that. “Yeah, sorry, I-- I sometimes get into my head too much.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry, I know how it is.” Magnus waves his hand, dismissing the comment. A silence settles over them but it isn’t uncomfortable. 

 

They stare at each other for a while, as though looking for something.

 

Magnus feels Alec’s gaze moving all over his face. It was intense yet gentle at the same time. He didn’t know how to explain it. Magnus looks away first, filled with thoughts he didn’t understand yet. 

 

Something on the floor catches his attention. It was Alec’s black marker. He bends down to pick it up. 

 

“Oh hey, here’s your marker. I’m sorry again for scaring you--” An involuntary gasp escapes him mid sentence, as he’s filled with shock. 

 

Alec is looking at him with worried eyes. “What? What is it,” he asks.

 

Magnus can’t believe what he’s seeing. “I picked up the marker by the tip and have a black mark on my palm. Look at yours.”

 

Alec sees his hand and there it is-- a black dot on his palm, just like Magnus. His eyes go wide at the realization of what this means. He looks up back at Magnus. 

 

“You’re my soulmate,” he asks hesitantly.

 

Magnus lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

 

“It seems I am.” 

  
  



End file.
